Death metal that stands true and tall above the crowds of bands swaying in an ocean of change and fad adoption, stands the test of time; formed in 1988 with a career spanning 11 albums, including the 2014 monster that is "The Post-Apocalyptic Servant", Dutch band SINISTER have developed a piece that is mature and lofty in its content, doing well to stray from the clichés of Satan and gore that dominates much of the extreme metal spectrum; SINISTER is the brutal Death Metal of the thinking metal head.

"The Science of Prophecy" begins the apocalypse with an amalgamation of blast-beats and Thrash riffs that juxtaposes both a tight and chaotic sound; the accuracy of Toep's drumming is scarily clinical; what better way to top off super-human battery than with a SLAYER-inspired guitar solo? A wild and boundless entity that transgresses the already-unpredictable nature of stoic Death Metal riffage. "The End of All that Conquers" is an endless, lightless, hopeless spiral that swallows our sense of sound in an intriguingly-arranged vortex of riffs, centered around a hypnotic, rolling drum battery and surprising polyrhythms. The return of brutal, thrashing riffs with infernal fervor break the churning cycle for but a moment; possibly the most intuitive and creative track on the record.

The title track is dominated by an unbridled, percussive force driving the megaton riffs in this piece, which display an especially brilliant delivery of technicality, mixing in some Slam akin to SUFFOCATION and moments of ludicrous DEICIDE speeds; the arrangement in riffs in this track evolves substantially, once again employing mind-jarring rhythmic discordance between the drums and guitars. Lastly, it piqued my interest that the band would include a PARADISE LOST cover in "Deadly Inner Sense"; an honest and humble tribute to one of Doom Metal's pioneers, with an obvious and obtuse, Deathlike twist. It dragged the band below their typical, blazing playing field, and resulted in a perfectly-executed, down-tempo track that manages to seriously and realistically retain the melancholy of the original music.

SINISTER are a veteran Death Metal band that are relatively important in light of the modern scene, setting themselves apart from more mainstream extreme acts with an old-school approach, even on their newest material, the enlightened approach taken to developing the tracks it illustrating an impressive creative repertoire.